Literary Essay
Formal Writing Essay
Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl
1.) Describe one character in the text you studied. Explain HOW this character was made interesting in the text.
In the short story Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl, Mary Malone is one of the main characters and I found her to be interesting. In this essay I will explain how Roald Dahl uses language features to portray Mrs Maloney.
Mrs. Maloney is a six months pregnant with a child and she is in a very protective state.
“Her skin -for this was her sixth month with child-had acquired a wonderful translucent quality, the mouth was soft, and the eyes, with their new placid look, seemed larger darker than before.” This quote from the story tells us that she is definitely pregnant and looks it too.
“On the other hand, what about the child? What were the laws about murderers with unborn children? Did they kill them both-mother and child? Or did they wait until the tenth month?”
This is showing that Mrs. Maloney is showing the normal traits of a six-month pregnant woman. Her pregnancy is affecting her decision-making and possibly making her very impulsive and quick to do things that she might not normally do.
Mary Malone has killed her husband impulsively with a leg of frozen lamb due to him implying he’s leaving her.
“Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head.
She might just as well have hit him with a steel club.”
"So there it is," he added. "And I know it's kind of a bad time to be telling you, bet there simply wasn't any other way. Of course I'll give you money and see you're looked after. But there needn't really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn't be very good for my job."
Mary Malone has realised that she has killed her husband and that he is gone, she is still holding the leg of lamb that she killed Mr. Maloney with and is in a state of
Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl
1.) Describe one character in the text you studied. Explain HOW this character was made interesting in the text.
In the short story Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl, Mary Malone is one of the main characters and I found her to be interesting. In this essay I will explain how Roald Dahl uses language features to portray Mrs Maloney.
Mrs. Maloney is a six months pregnant with a child and she is in a very protective state.
“Her skin -for this was her sixth month with child-had acquired a wonderful translucent quality, the mouth was soft, and the eyes, with their new placid look, seemed larger darker than before.” This quote from the story tells us that she is definitely pregnant and looks it too.
“On the other hand, what about the child? What were the laws about murderers with unborn children? Did they kill them both-mother and child? Or did they wait until the tenth month?”
This is showing that Mrs. Maloney is showing the normal traits of a six-month pregnant woman. Her pregnancy is affecting her decision-making and possibly making her very impulsive and quick to do things that she might not normally do.
Mary Malone has killed her husband impulsively with a leg of frozen lamb due to him implying he’s leaving her.
“Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head.
She might just as well have hit him with a steel club.”
"So there it is," he added. "And I know it's kind of a bad time to be telling you, bet there simply wasn't any other way. Of course I'll give you money and see you're looked after. But there needn't really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn't be very good for my job."
Mary Malone has realised that she has killed her husband and that he is gone, she is still holding the leg of lamb that she killed Mr. Maloney with and is in a state of